Redgrave Hires E-Discovery Co.'s Microsoft 365 Tech Pro

E-discovery and information law firm Redgrave LLP has hired one of the minds behind the creation of e-discovery company Lighthouse's Microsoft compliance and security compliance team, touting what the firm calls his "niche practice built to address the impact of cloud computing on eDiscovery and information governance."

John P. Collins, the former executive director of Lighthouse's information governance practice, has joined Redgrave as a managing director in Chicago to advise clients on e-discovery and information law matters.  He arrives at the firm with years of experience helping teams implement Microsoft 365 technologies like its Purview's risk and compliance and data security solutions, according to the firm's announcement on Tuesday.

Collins told Law360 Pulse on Wednesday that he's been acquainted with the firm's [co-]founder, Jonathan M. Redgrave, for many years and has considered him a leader in information governance law and e-discovery.

"So when he started Redgrave and formed this firm that has this combination of lawyers and technical experts, I thought this was pretty interesting," he said.

Collins got to see Redgrave's capabilities for himself about five years ago, when he worked with the firm on a project for a mutual client.

"I really got to see [managing director Staci Kaliner] and Redgrave's attorneys in action, and I was really impressed," he said.

Collins is the latest addition to Redgrave's Chicago office, which welcomed former Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart PC attorney Thomas A. Lidbury in December.  The firm also brought on 10 attorneys from Sidley Austin LLP a few months before that. They included partner Robert D. Keeling, who helped launch Sidley's e-discovery and data analytics practice.

Collins' hire comes as new e-discovery tools accessible through cloud computing have become increasingly popular.  According to a recent legal tech survey, attorneys' use of cloud computing for work-related tasks rose from 60% in 2021 to 75% in 2024. Microsoft 365 was the most popular platform among lawyers for cloud computing last year.

Microsoft 365's built-in e-discovery tools "really have changed the nature of how discovery work is done, because with Microsoft, especially, you have the opportunity to do eDiscovery and data mapping and other things in the cloud," Collins said.

During the early years of his career, Collins founded The Ingersoll Firm, an electronically stored information data mapping consultancy.  He went on to serve as director of discovery services at Modus, director of information governance and Office 365 consulting at the company now known as Epiq, and director of information governance at Options Clearing Corp., according to Redgrave.

Collins earned his law degree from the Purdue Global Law School. He is a certified records manager and an information governance professional.

"We are very pleased to welcome John to Redgrave as a Managing Director," managing partner Victoria Redgrave said in a statement. "Our clients will greatly benefit from John's impressive and deep legal, technology, and consulting background, as well as his extensive work and understanding surrounding M365 and other cloud technologies with respect to eDiscovery and information governance issues.  His ability to engineer and tailor M365 solutions will be invaluable to clients as technology continues to evolve at a rapid pace."

By Andrea Keckley.

Additional reporting by Adrian Cruz, Jack Rodgers, Steven Lerner and Sarah Martinson.

Editing by Nicole Bleier.